Reading the mindset of the secretary of state: shaping policy delivery effectiveness

This paper examines the nature of the relationship between the Secretary of State and the Permanent Secretary, with particular focus on determining how policy delivery can be enhanced. The review of the literature offers insights into the role and tasks of the Secretary of State and Permanent Secret...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBritish politics Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 218 - 235
Main Authors Kakabadse, Andrew P., Kakabadse, Nada
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Palgrave Macmillan UK 01.06.2023
Palgrave Macmillan
Subjects
Accountability
British Politics
Civil service
Comparative Politics
Literature reviews
Original Article
Political Science
Political Science and International Relations
Political Science and International Studies
Politics
Public officials
Reading
Reforms
Secretaries of state
Permanent secretary
Personal confidence
Reading the minister
Policy delivery
Secretary of state
Use of evidence
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Summary:This paper examines the nature of the relationship between the Secretary of State and the Permanent Secretary, with particular focus on determining how policy delivery can be enhanced. The review of the literature offers insights into the role and tasks of the Secretary of State and Permanent Secretary concluding that the quality of their relationship is central to effective policy delivery. The study highlights the considerable attention given by public officials to understanding the Secretary of State in order to ensure better engagement with their political masters. To this end, civil servants report that appreciating the Minister’s propensity for drawing on evidence (soft or hard data) and their level of personal confidence (feeling secure or insecure) provides the necessary insights to ‘get on to the Minister’s wavelength’. Officials report the extent of their flexibility to position arguments in order to win the Minister’s attention and approval. The paper concludes that the appropriate (or inappropriate) reading of the Minister is fundamental to enhancing (or damaging) policy delivery. The lengths officials go to so that the Secretary of State can, and can be seen to, appropriately deliver policy seemingly goes unrecognized by the Minister.
ISSN:1746-918X
1746-9198
DOI:10.1057/s41293-020-00147-3